It wasn't glamorous. The machines were loud, the keys stuck, and there was usually a metronome clicking away like a disapproving parent. But Generation Jones and Gen X are now realizing that the typing class they either dreaded or were forced into by their mothers turned out to be one of the most useful things school ever taught them.
On Reddit, people from both generations have been swapping stories about learning to type on actual typewriters—manual ones, electric ones, portable ones with paper taped over the keys so you couldn't cheat by looking down. One person remembered their 8th grade class on a portable typewriter. They hated it at the time. Now, 45 years later, they still use the keyboard layout they learned then, and they're not exaggerating when they say it's paid dividends their entire life.
The thing about typing class is that it wasn't trying to be cool. Teachers knew the machines were terrible. One Gen Xer recalled their instructor being lenient about mistakes as long as students showed up and tried. Another remembered a teacher's metronome—apparently meant to keep pace, though nobody understood why—that became the class villain in their memory. And yet, despite the clunky technology and the boredom, something stuck.
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One Gen Xer who was forced to take "Personal Typing" instead of ceramics (their preferred choice) later became a software engineer. They're not alone. People across both generations describe typing class as the single best preparation they got for college and their careers. One Gen Xer who took "Business Typing" went into IT and software engineering. Another remembers their typewriting teacher, Mr. McGuire, specifically—and the lesson about never trying to fix typos by typing over them.
What's striking is how consistently these people frame the same realization: the class that seemed pointless at the time became foundational. It's not that typing class was exciting or innovative. It was just practical. It taught a specific, transferable skill that worked on every keyboard that came after, whether electric, digital, or touchscreen.
There's a quiet lesson here about education. Sometimes the most valuable skills aren't the ones that feel cutting-edge in the moment. They're the ones that stick with you for decades, the ones that show up every single day in whatever comes next.
